We interrupt the doom and gloom of an impending Astros season. Speak now, or forever hold your peace.

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We interrupt the doom and gloom of an impending Astros season with a reminder: They haven’t lost a game that counts yet.

Carlos Lee hasn’t made a single misstep in left field, though he appeared to be in midseason meandering form during Wednesday’s exhibition game at Minute Maid Park against the Red Sox.

Not one opposing pitcher has cut through the Astros like a knife going through warm butter, though Josh Beckett certainly gave a blueprint in the aforementioned game on how such a thing might occur.

With Roy Halladay taking the mound against the Astros this afternoon, the elements at Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park permitting, all of that could change abruptly. Or not. Maybe this is the year the Astros don’t start 0-8, don’t dig themselves a 6-foot-hole and start covering themselves in dirt before the end of April.

Las Vegas is laying 40-1 odds on the Astros winning the pennant and 80-1 of winning the World Series. Those are better that the odds of me winning a Pulitzer Prize, so who am I to cast stones at a team that had had a winning record last season after it traded Roy Oswalt and Lance Berkman?

In today’s print edition of your friendly neighborhood newspaper, a blue-ribbon panel Chronicle writers made their picks for the season. Like Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell after a loss, I’m not going to run and hide. My National League picks: the Cardinals, Braves and Rockies to win their divisions, with the defending champion Giants to earning a wild-card berth. American League picks: Red Sox, Twins and A’s to win their divisions, with the Tigers earning the wild card. World Series: Red Sox over Rockies. Wouldn’t surprise me in the least to see the Twins go the distance after numerous playoff missteps in recent years, but we only get to pick one winner.

As Zachary Levine points out, Bodog.com has set the over-under on Astros at 71.5. The hunch here is that the Astros will hit the over, with one disclaimer: This comes from a guy who once traded Kirby Puckett for Wally Joyner in a 1987 Rotisserie League. Maybe I’ve gotten wiser since then; maybe I’ve just gotten older.

No, I’m swigging on a personal supply of Drayton McLane-issued Kool-Aid. Yes, the Astros go into the season down a starting catcher and a starting shortstop. I’m not suggesting folks plop down the kids’ college funds on Astros World Series bets, but it’s not going to take moving mountains – or Lee, for that matter – to get to 72 victories.

Lee was, to put it bluntly, about as bad as it gets as a cleanup hitter last season – next to last in production of everybody who hit in that spot regularly. He fell from 96 runs created in 2009 to 69 last season, and the Astros can’t afford that kind of dead weight again. Lee is 34 and isn’t going to recapture his youth, but the hunch here is that he’ll make enough adjustments this time around to come out of that spiral. Don’t be surprised if Lee puts up something along the lines of .275, 27 homers, 100 runs batted in. That won’t make him a bargain, but it would help cut the Astros’ losses.

Centerfielder Michael Bourn broke out two seasons ago to create 95 runs. He fell off to 72 runs created in 2010. He’s not going to win any batting titles, but even splitting the difference between the two seasons would give the Astros a little more spark. There’s no reason – other than blind pessimism – to think Brett Wallace, a former first-round pick who has hit at every level in the minor leagues, is the .222 hitter he showed in a 144-at-bat sample size last season. Catcher and shortstop were offensive sinkholes for the Astros last season (on-base-plus slugging of .582 and .633, respectively, at those two positions), so it’s hard to envision any real steps backward there. Right fielder Hunter Pence has been a consistent .280, 25-homer, 80-RBI threat, and he’s at the right age (28) to have a breakout season.

Hunter Pence home runs – 25.5. Though I’d expect an All-Star-type season from Pence, I’d take the under. Pence has been taking an approach that lends itself to hitting to the opposite field, which should be a boon to his batting average and overall production, but it may be at the cost of a few cheap Crawford Boxes home runs.

Carlos Lee home runs – 22.5. Over.

Carlos Lee RBIs – 89.5. Over.

Michael Bourn stolen bases – 54.5. Under. He’s surpassed 55 once in his career, and at 28, he’ll probably pick and choose a little more carefully when he runs.

Brett Myers wins – 13. Under. His career high is 14, and the hunch here is that as the No. 1 starter, he’ll have some of the run-support issues that were a drag on Roy Oswalt’s victory totals in recent seasons.

Wandy Rodriguez wins – 11. Over. Astros fans tend to see him for what he isn’t instead of what he is. His ERA in 18 starts after June 23 was 2.03 – the best in the NL.

J.A. Happ wins – 9.5. This one feels like a sucker bet to me, a total that should be fairly easily reachable if he gets anywhere close to 30 starts. Of course, getting those 30 starts could be the rub if the oblique strain he suffered in his final exhibition outing proves to be a recurring issue. I’d still take the over.

Feel free to chime in with your predictions. It’s your chance to put your brilliance on the record, for all the world to see.